SKY – 08

“Yeah, but hey, we’ll get to see what the capital is like,” Hleis replied.

“Unless we grow old and die before that! This ship moves so slowly that it’ll take us weeks to get there!” Vayling said.

“Well, it’s carrying our entire town’s population and the capital is quite far away. It’s a nice change of pace since we’re travelling through friendly skies. We get to see other parts of the kingdom that we would never have gotten the chance to before,” Traer said.

“Traer, do you think the mastigs
would have returned to West-Hail? Did we really need to evacuate?” Hleis asked.

Traer responded, “Yes, from what
I’ve read in manuals and history books, mastigs always return with a vengeance
when an alpha is slain. Armies and soldiers can kill an alpha, but it comes at
the cost of their base months later.”

“Though, that’s really something
impressive you did Hleis, killing an alpha. What will you do from now on? The
capital doesn’t need a defense force like ours. We’ll need to find a new
occupation when we settle there. You should really consider joining the
official military,” Vayling said. “I think I’ll maybe try and open a shop
somewhere. Always wanted to own a store…”

“Haha, Hleis, they probably won’t
even let you do anything else other than the military. Can you imagine if you
became a mechanic like your dad? Everyone would know you as the ship repairman
who killed a mastig alpha! The government would never leave you alone!” Traer joked.

***

“So, Sota, how was your first real
battle?” Veindelio asked.

“I could tell it was very stressful
from the other soldiers,” she replied.

“You weren’t nervous?” he asked.

“Not really, but maybe I should’ve
been… It was my first one I had to fight unsupervised, I didn’t really know
what to expect, and the academy and everyone had told me my entire life that we
were the best. I don’t know, I guess I was confident enough to not think about
dying,” she answered.

“Hmm. You did well, but we’re not
invincible. Remember that for future battles and never think that you’re above
defeat.”

“Yes sir. Um quick question, I saw
the local defense captain fight the alpha with my squad mate. I didn’t think
that there would be people outside the capital with that level of strength. Is
that common?”

“No, Cruntiq is a special case and a
well established warrior, he was far stronger in his youth too, before he used
up so much of his vigor on the battlefield. The other one, who dealt the
killing blow to the mastig, you said he was your squad mate, what is your
impression of him and his team?”

“They’re very skilled. The
marksman in my unit was exceptional, clearly very well trained. The shield
operator kept her cool and was able to block when needed. They were all fairly
experienced despite their age.”

“Yes, that is one of the aspects of
life near the outskirts of the kingdom. Random mastig attacks are not
infrequent and they grow accustomed to fighting them early on,” Veindelio interrupted.
“Please continue, what about the swordsman?”

“Yes, he’s called Hleis. He was the
most interesting one of them. I believe he passively uses enhancement magic on
himself without realizing it.”

“I saw that. Yes, you are correct. But,
from what I saw, he’s also using weight manipulation magic in combination to improve
his movement and increase the force of his swings.”

“Is this a common thing to run
into? Regular soldiers who can unintentionally use magic?”

“Not common, but not unique. The
military recruits them when discovered, as they are valuable assets.”

“Will he get formal training?”

“Not in the style we’re familiar
with, just training on efficiency and basic lessons. Often, they develop a
unique use of their abilities due to their limited knowledge. It’s best for
them not to deviate from that. There’s a certain value in that uniqueness.
Cruntiq was probably like that too at one point.”

“I see… One last question, will
we be able to see them again?”

“Perhaps.”

***

With not much to do and not much
room to move around, Hleis would spend many hours just watching the skies from
the deck. As they got further into the interior of the kingdom, landmasses were
sighted more and more frequently. Out on the outskirts, Hleis had never seen
another settlement before. He only heard of them from travelers and merchants. The
travel time separating each settlement they passed shrunk from days to mere
hours. He never just realized how isolated they were in West-Hail.

Other members of the town would
also show up on the deck to watch the skies and surroundings as they passed by.
Vayling and Hleis would chat to pass the time; often speculating about ways
they might be able to hunt some of the beasts that flew by. Maltii would
recognize many of the species from her books, and when she didn’t, would
carefully watch it and take notes for her records. Traer would sometimes come
up and talk to Hleis about some theory he had or some new information he got
about the capital that he couldn’t wait to share.

Even Sota would join him at times.
They would talk about all sorts of things. Hleis was interested in her
upbringing as a mage, while she was interested in how he learned to fight and what
life was like outside of the capital.

It was near twilight when an
unfamiliar silhouette flew past far in the horizon.

“Did you see that?” Hleis asked
Sota. “Are beasts that size common near Center-Storm?”

“I saw it, but I’ve never seen that
shape before though, and no, typically the size stays consistent across the
kingdom since the climate doesn’t really change depending on where you are,”
she replied.

“Haha you know what it could be, it
could be one of those creatures they say in those ancient legends. A dragon!”
said Sota.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“You’ve never heard of dragons
before? Really? They’re recorded in all the ancient books and myths.”

“Nope. We don’t really get ancient books
in West-Hail. Maltii may know.”

“Huh, well the ancient books traded
to us by the harpies said that in the past, long before humans and mastigs, the
dragons were the strongest creatures in existence. One of the stories even says
that the mastigs only appeared after the dragons disappeared.”

“Did the legend say where they
went?” he asked.

“They said they came from another
realm and may have returned or died off, but who knows, it’s all just legends
anyways.”

“That’s interesting though, harpy
traders did stop by West-Hail once, but they never mentioned any of this or
sold us any books. Apparently their kingdom is really far away. It’s also
supposed to be so large that the mastigs don’t even attack it.”

“Yeah, I would like to see it one
day. They trade us a lot of books and other artifacts. There’s a massive
library and museum in Center-Storm that holds a lot of them. I’ll show it to
you and the others sometime.”

“Sounds fun, it’d be nice to learn
about these things.”

***

Center-Storm was enormous, high
castle walls that stretched further than the eye could see, blocking off any
view of the horizon or sky behind it. It was a city that wasted no space;
occupying the entire size of the continent-sized landmass it was build on atop
of. Countless islands, all with their own settlements, surrounded it with an
unending stream of vehicles that travelled between them and the capital.

They docked at a massive port and
were greeted by a procession of armored guards. This wasn’t a military port,
but their ship was met by the military. The soldiers showed a great deal of
respect to Cruntiq and Veindelio as they led their people off the ship and onto
transports meant to take them to their new homes in Center-Storm.

From the transports, Hleis could
see the capital from above, where the differences between each district were
distinctly noticeable. He could see where one part of the city ended and
another began. Every now and then Hleis could see down into the poorly lit maze
of suspended streets and bridges that littered the residential areas and the layers
of human settlement below, settlements that were continuously abandoned and
built on top of over the centuries.

The natives of Center-Storm
explained to the people of West-Hail how the city was founded almost four
thousand years ago. Before it was the capital, it was the second most powerful
amongst the human city-states. When the mastigs first attacked, Center-Storm
was able to survive destruction and consolidate the remaining states under the banners
of the greatest warriors of the time to form a unified military force. Eventually
this military force became what was known as the CloudStock Kingdom, and its leader
became the fabled king of legends.

Sota explained to Hleis that over
time, as the war escalated, more and more settlements began to retreat to the
capital and set up their own districts in the city, often being the last
remnants of other fallen settlements, turning Center-Storm into a collage of forgotten
towns. West-Hail would be the next of many groups to settle like this. They
would be assigned an area when they could rebuild their town and add their own
legacy to the layers of Center-Storm’s history.

***

“I have never worn clothes
this…pricey before,” Hleis said. “Is this really necessary for a dinner?”

“They look good on you though,”
Sota replied. “And yes, we’re being invited by a lieutenant general of the
kingdom. That’s a great honor you know!”

“Hey, think of it this way. We just
got a free pair of fancy clothes,” Traer said.

“You know what? We’ve been here for
a week yet I still can’t seem to understand how a place like this exists. How
is there so much stuff built here? People haven’t lived in the lowest levels in
centuries right?” Hleis asked.

“Well, there are a lot of people
and people want to build their own things when they arrive, so it just keeps on
adding up. Most of these buildings have lasted longer than the people who made
them,” Sota said.

“We’ve just got to get used to it. Still,
I never thought four months ago that we’d be flying through the capital on a
luxury transport to have dinner with such a high ranking official,” Traer said.
“I never knew Cruntiq had connections this deep, and that they’d ask us to come.”

“It’s no surprise,” Sota replied. “You are
future leaders of your community. Hleis fought alongside your captain and my
captain to kill a mastig alpha. He even delivered the finishing blow. That is a
major accomplishment for any warrior. Who knows, he might even get a medal!”

“Haha I hope not. I’m exhausted. I’ve
heard nothing but praises all week…” Hleis replied. “I wonder what this banquet
is going to be about though? Doesn’t seem right to host something this size
only to celebrate our arrival right?”

“Guess we’ll find out,” Traer said.

“It’s not that weird of an
occasion,” Sota replied.

***

The food was abundant and
extravagant. Dishes Hleis had never seen before stretched across his table. He
was sitting with several other prominent members of the town including Traer.
Several tables over, he saw Sota sitting with a large group of mages. Near
them, Cruntiq was sat with Veindelio, the mayor of West-Hail and several people
he did not recognize. Hleis could only guess who they were. Probably high-ranking
members of Center-Storm’s military he reckoned.

It was almost two hours into the
dinner party when one of the people at Cruntiq’s table stood up and addressed
the room. “Thank you everyone for coming. I hope you all enjoyed this
celebration of the amazing things you accomplished at West-Hail, to prevail
against such odds goes far beyond expectations and reason. It’s unfortunate
that your homes had to be abandoned, but your people are surely worth
preserving.”

This man was fairly old; he looked
around the same age as Cruntiq. Throughout the night he and Cruntiq would be
seen talking to one another. It seemed like they knew each other.

“We have something to announce to
everyone here. The town of West-Hail, and the CloudStock military, has agreed
upon terms, to transform the West-Hail defense force into an independent army
under the leadership of Cruntiq. In exchange for your service, the district of
West-Hail will be given additional land designations and rewards.”

The mayor stood up said, “This will
all be voluntary of course, but we have recently proven our strength to the
capital and they want us to be involved with the war effort. We have been given
a wonderful opportunity to help our families and community as well as serve our
kingdom.”

“Furthermore, your army will be
well supplied. You will have capital funding and training resources available
to you and are free to recruit as needed,” the lieutenant general said.

***

The party had died down after the announcement;
it was pretty late for the denizens of West-Hail. They had all returned to
their homes to ponder things over and inform their families. The lieutenant
general and Veindelio met on the balcony of the venue, overlooking the endless
city lights at night from the high vantage point of the city center.

“So, what are your thoughts?” the
lieutenant general asked.

“Its amazing that they got through
the predicament they were in. I won’t say it was easy, but I definitely don’t
think they were pushed to their real limits,” Veindelio replied.

“That’s Cruntiq for you. Truly
exceptional. Not only is he strong, he also simplifies things for his soldiers,
trains them to focus on what they need to focus on and nothing else.”

“They far exceeded what we originally
needed from them… The first step went unexpectedly, but they meet the
requirements. Will we initiate next steps?”

“It’s almost certain that we do. We
can’t waste an opportunity like this one. Let’s schedule a meeting with high
command.”